I will never understand why movie makers bother to adapt a beloved work and feel compelled to change so much of what made the work beloved. (See 99% of Dracula, adaptations, for instance.) This halfhearted attempt to update The Shadow to the late 50s might have been very good if the film makers had respected a few of the best features of the franchise.

Instead of the man of mystery from the old novels, this Shadow is a squarejawed law type, fond of saying "We Americans," usually moving about and interacting as Lamont Cranston.

Instead of an expert in vague mysticism, this Shadow has a slightly foreign, slightly gay mentor/sidekick who constantly scolds him about using his powers or not being serious enough.

Instead of taking on organized crime, this Shadow mainly grapples in Latin American politics and espionage.

Instead of being a man of action, this Shadow mainly uses his mild powers to gently befuddle people.

If you don't care anything about the character, why use the character?

Worth seeing only because of the New Orleans locale and because there are so few Shadow adaptations of any kind.

THANK YOU I tried to order it format dvd on Amazon but never received it but got my money back thanks for posting I prefer the OTR Show the best but I still loved it any way :)

I really can't think of anything good to say about this Shadow movie. Hampered by a low budget, poor acting, often incompetent directing and editing, and a screenplay written in Mrs. Barton's 7th grade class, its use of New Orleans locations and music even fails to be interesting.

Some scenes in the film that had me shaking my head include the murder that serves as the first plot point, Lamont Cranston aka The Shadow sitting cross-legged with his guru companion and the car chase, the last of which was almost funny.

I downloaded the 699MB AVI file. The video and audio quality were good, aside from a greenish tint to the video.